AMD Llano HTPC Builders Guide
by Ganesh T S on June 5, 2012 8:02 AM ESTUnless your HTPC is going to double up as a full-blown gaming rig, it is not necessary to go in for more than a 450W power supply, and you can certainly go for less. Users concerned with noise might want to buy a fanless model, although, with 65W and 100W processors that may simply result in your CPU fan being noisier CPU fan.
- SeaSonic X series SS-400FL 400W 80PLUS GOLD PSU: Coming in at $130, the PSU is a bit costly but that is the price you'll have to pay for silence. It also comes with fully modular cables, which can be helpful when you're building in a smaller mini-ITX or micro-ATX chassis.
- Antec VP-450 450W PSU: At $38, this is a no-frills PSU with only moderate (up to 75%) efficiency, but for budget users with low-power rigs it represents a decent value. At this price, one can't expect modular cables and other such niceties. The goal here is decent reliability, low noise, and low cost.
The choice of the chassis depends on the form factor of the chosen motherboard, as well as the usage scenario.
- mini-ITX: SilverStone's FT03 Mini is currently on Newegg for $132.99 and also on Amazon for $129.50 (but temporarily out of stock at the time of this article going live). Dustin liked the case a lot and even considered it worthy of an award. The design also makes it stand out (hopefully in a good way, though opinions vary) in a home theater setup.
- micro-ATX and ATX: I am going to take this opportunity to suggest nMEDIAPC's wooden case currently available on Newegg for $90. This unique case is bound to steal the show even in the most fancy of home theater setups, thanks to its unique construction and industrial design. If you are in search of something mainstream that also includes a MCE remote, the Antec Fusion VERIS Remote Max is an excellent choice I can recommend from personal experience. It is currently on Amazon at $214.
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lwatcdr - Wednesday, June 6, 2012 - link
Even if you are going to use your HTPC to record video why have a local harddrive? You just need an SSD to boot from and then you can stream the rest. Now some of those boards would aslo make a good NAS as well.For a mini ITX case might I suggest this one that you just reviewed. http://www.anandtech.com/show/5867/bitfenix-prodig...
And for the CPU sound issue maybe a Corsair Hydro Series HD40 water cooling setup? Just some other options for people to look at. Frankly the new Pogoplug looks like it would do very nicely as a NAS box for not much money as well.
djfourmoney - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
I don't watch anything on Netflix.... Anyway my system never sees more than 20c and usually around 17c. I just built it so I haven't pushed it really, but I don't expect any problems.My external drives are louder than the stock HSF so I don't know what people are talking about. I also have full control over all the fan speeds inside the case, not just the HSF. Internal fans are running around 2000rpm.
Paired with a SATA III SSD it screams, from pushed on to up and running in 45 second. Most of the delay comes from the start up screen.
When I first put it together, I went to Can I Run This and found many games I would be interested to play will run on this no problems. Yes you can get a cheap Celeron Sandy Bridge and a $50-$70 video card to do the same thing, but I already has a HD4670. I put that in my mom's machine as I don't need it and it won't Hybrid Crossfire with it anyway. I may for sh*ts and giggles get a HD6670 but I will wait until the 7000 series cards come out so the price will drop.
Once the HDD prices drop more and closer to 2011 pre-flood levels, I will get rid or at least re-assign my externals to the server and move all its data to another 2 or 3TB drive on my WHS 2011 build.
I'm pleased with this and its an update of my v1.0 HTPC which was Athlon 64x2 5000+ BE which has some thermal issues now, can't even do video encoding on it without it going thermal and shutting down. Not sure what power draw is but I'm sure its less than that plus the video card with ran off bus power.
BPB - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
What is your build?Tujan - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
Both AMD and INTEL have their own implementation of utilizing the codecs involved with running content for a HTPC. If you look at some of the Anandtech.com benchmarks you'll notice that Intel systems typically render quicker in ''rendering-transcoding'' tests. However cross referencing a 'typical pc system',in that "good enough" scenario is difficult to access.Basically you want both "rendering AND transcoding" performance characteristics for your system. Intels system which utilizes the 'hyperthreading',typically in the benchmarks outperforms those in an AMD system.
In the same situation over time based tests. Perhaps someone at Anandtech.com can elaborate on just how,and what is used between the two different proprietors.
Believe that however 'good enough',is probably 'any 4 core cpu for either AMD,or Intel. Look at the benchmarks,and choose carefully,since a system will want more that 'doing videos'. The codecs,are for the most part- cpu intensive. While having 'good /fast graphics',is where the Intel juggernaut,differs from the AMD juggernaut.
Use a fast SSD,4 core processor,with adaquete and implementable graphics - as well as adaquate and implementable 'rendering-transcoding'. Fast DDR3 1600 or better,64 bit operating system that can run the apps you want.
'Good enough'' is actually a fairly thin range of equipment when your a DIY,and buying your own. As the benchmarks will show.
Like that wooden case.
didis - Monday, June 11, 2012 - link
Trinity is better in every waydrizzo4shizzo - Friday, June 15, 2012 - link
This is kinda off topic but... maybe someone will chime in anyway and save me a bunch of time or money or both.Recently replaced my main desktop and looking to re-use the old one as an HTPC.
What problems do you fore-see using an old dual core socket 939 Athlon2 3500+ with an NVidia 7600 GT, and a Pinnacle HD PCI capture card receiving over the air HDTV?
All the components were high end at the time, should last a long time, so it's a shame if it sits idle (ie, Seasonic s12 power supply, asus a8n32 mobo, etc. I am not real worried about power consumption more about performance.
Plan is to use Myth tv / Ubuntu. Hoping I don't need to shell out for an actual HTPC. This box would record the live TV streams and also sit next to my TV for viewing, and possibly serve the content to other myth boxes.